This invention relates generally to graphics display systems and, more particularly, to graphics display systems used to combine graphics images from two or more source. The particular problem that the invention addresses relates to the field of hair styling, but it will be apparent as the description proceeds that the invention is equally applicable to other fields, such as cosmetics, clothing fashions, and so forth.
A significant problem for hair stylists, and for their patrons or customers, is the selection of a hairstyle that will look pleasing on a particular person. Some hair stylists simply do not have the artistic ability or the experience to anticipate the results of applying a particular hairstyle to a customer. The customer will typically have even greater difficulty in selecting a hairstyle from photographs and imagining what the effect of the style will be. Because of differences in face shape, facial features, type and color of hair, physical stature, and so forth, a style that looks perfect on a photographed model may be totally inappropriate for the customer.
In the past, the most common approach to solving this problem has been to show the customer photographs of various hairstyles, and to modify a selected style to fit the customer as well as possible. The success of this technique depends heavily on the hairstylist's skill and experience in adapting the selected style to the customer's physical characteristics, and on the degree of communication between the customer and the hairstylist. Frequently, however, the result does not meet the customer's expectations, and there is a significant cost to the customer, the hairstylist, or both.
Various attempts have been made to employ video technology to address this problem. One approach is to use a computer "paint" program that permits the capture of a video image in digitized form, and then the subsequent manual editing of the digitized image to obtain a desired effect. The digitized image is displayed by a computer on a video screen, and the user edits the image by moving a pointer or cursor about the screen, and selecting various commands to change the extent and color of the digitized image. This method is tedious and time-consuming, however. Its use in a hairstyling environment is totally impractical because of the experience and training that would be required of the personnel operating the system.
Another approach that has been proposed employs two video cameras. One is positioned on a picture of a model wearing a proposed hairstyle, and the other is focused on the customer. The model's face is cut from the picture of the hairstyle, which is then electronically overlaid with the customer image. The result is a very artificial "cut and pasted" appearance, with no allowance being made for size differences or different face shapes.
It will be appreciated from the foregoing that there is still a real need for an improved technique for selecting hair styles and, more generally, for adapting video images to be overlaid in such a manner that the resulting composite image has a natural appearance. The present invention fulfills this need.